The war of the cloaks

Completion of the cult sci-fi dystopia series The Mantle

The A30 has overcome the threat of the brown plague thanks to Captain Kastor Clark, but the danger is far from over. The weakened honeycomb is tempting prey for greedy neighbours who swoop down like vultures and do not hesitate to use even the most abhorrent practices. The enemy is also aided by the stigma of Hal Dornig, a powerful ruler who, fearing betrayal, uses all the resources of the honeycomb to eliminate political opponents. As death and madness spread across the plains and deadly rogues roam, United Council of the Plains Investigator MOND 092 tries to find a solution. But even he soon discovers that he is powerless against human malice...

The conclusion of the series, one of the most outstanding works of Czech science fiction, brings not only answers to the questions raised in the previous volumes, but above all a gripping plot. Where did General Clark go? Will they be able to stop the invasion of an army of humanized drones? Can Kastor free his people from humiliating slavery? How will the exiles of the honeycomb survive on a deserted rocky island? And will they finally defeat Cornelius Zwada, a man capable of adapting to any system?

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Josef Pecinovsky

One of the classics of domestic science fiction was born in 1946 in Varnsdorf and today lives in Štětí, where he has spent most of his career. His last job before retirement was teaching at the local vocational school of computer science. He started publishing in the 1960s, but then went into silence and returned to writing only in the 1980s, when he became one of the most prominent and appreciated domestic authors of short stories - as evidenced by the Mlok Award in 1986 and 1987 (the short stories Nos to zaváží! and Her Majesty). In the 1990s he began to publish in books. At that time he became, among other things, a very prolific contributor to Rodokaps published by Ivo Železný, where he also wrote under the pseudonyms Bruce Newman and Bernard Ant. Above all, however, he published his series Chronicles of the New Earth (Eggs with an Echo, Sacred Larva, Mysterious Pupa) in 1991-1993, to which he later added a fourth volume (Eternal Imago, published in 2008 by the publishing house Eternal Imago). Epoch). Rodokaps also published The Layer of Poison (IJ 1990), a disturbing parable of an overpopulated and dehumanized future world, to which he returned years later in the two-part Children of the Honeycomb (Epoch 2013) and the book you are now holding in your hands. The entire series is expected to conclude in the upcoming fourth installment.

In addition to these works, Josef Pecinovský has also contributed to the Chronicles of the Crimson Stones series (Forgotten Lake, Zoner Press 2012) or the Agent JFK series (Budiž vám Měsíc lehký, Triton 2009). Besides science fiction, he also writes westerns and computer manuals. In 2012 he was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement Award for SF. His domain is the darker visions of the human future related to the gradual dehumanization of a system that does not recognize individuality, intelligence and autonomy and instead promotes uniformity and blind following. Themes of artificial intelligence refusing to serve humans, abuse of power, genetic manipulation play a large role in his stories. But always set against the backdrop of a fast-paced, clear, adventurous plot.